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Cedar Grove's Athletic Director and head coach Rob Gogerty has a chance to catch up with his own Panthers high school coach Ed Sadloch on the sidelines during Sunday's (June 8) 47th Phil Simms N.J. North-South All-Star Classic at Kean University's Alumni Field. Gogerty was quarterback coach for the North as he worked with West Orange's Charlie LaMorte who threw a pair of second half TD passes in the exciting contest won by the South, 19-18. The North won the second annual girls flag football all-star game which preceded boys contest with 6-0 win. South's DE Sterling Newlin of Hightstown (left) and CB Zachery Padilla of Howell (20) listen in as defensive strategy is discussed. Phil Simms is seen with Game Director George DiGrande (right) and Summit's coach Kevin Kostibos after helping out with coin toss at midfield. (Sideline Chatter photos)
UNION- The decision to move the second annual N.J. girls flag football all-star game and the 47th Phil Simms New Jersey North-South All-Star Classic closer together timewise was a seamless and very successful blending of two different games for a wide variety of fans on hand for a fairly cool Sunday afternoon perfect for late springtime football on Alumni Field at Kean University.
“We’re very happy with having both games side by side now,” said Simms Classic Game Director George DiGrande as the highly-competitive and defensive-minded girls flag contest was winding down. “There is a terrific flag all-star game happening right now and then everyone can have a short break before the North-South Classic takes to the field.”
While the North made it two in a row, edging the South, 6-0, in a very defensive-minded Simms girls flag contest, the South snapped a 4-game losing streak against the North with a come-from-behind 19-18 win in 47th Simms Classic to deadlock the series that dates back to 1979 which now stands at 21-21-2.
It had taken the North 45 years to take the lead over the South with last year’s victory, but now the South has rebounded with gusto to tie the highly-competitive annual now pre-summer gridiron battle thanks to posting a late-game touchdown as Rumson-Fair Haven quarterback Owen O’Toole scored on a 1-yard TD plunge with 1:45 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Safety Khajauan ‘Peaky’ Rosenborough of Atlantic City sealed the deal with a big interception to halt any last-ditch effort by the North in the closing seconds.
Speaking of the close contests between the two sides, the North had won the last four games by one point, five, four and two points and the South’s most recent victory before Sunday was in 2018 by the score of 38-16 at Kean.
There were no games played in either 2020 or 2021 due to covid.
Retired Giants great and longtime NFL TV analyst Phil Simms was ever-present during both games and helped get the North-South Classic off to a positive start by meeting the respective captains at midfield for the coin toss.
“Phil has been with the game since 2014 and he is such a valuable part of all the happenings before, during and after the game,” said retired Game Director Ken Trimmer of Caldwell. “It’s always great to see him enjoying being out there on the field with all the kids and he enjoys the girls flag all-star game which continues to grow in interest around the state.”
“We love coming down to see this game every year,” said retired Cedar Grove head coach Ed Sadloch, who still stays busy running Wing-T clinics with coaching colleagues Gerry Gallagher and Don Smolyn. “And, to have one of my former players and coaches Rob Gogerty here to work with the North quarterbacks is tremendous to see.
“It’s been great to see Rob continue the great winning tradition at Cedar Grove where he has had great success with the Panthers!”
Gogerty, who starred at quarterback for Sadloch at Cedar Grove before going on to be a Division I college basketball guard at the University of Maryland Baltimore City, was busy before and during Sunday’s Simms Classic providing pointers and encouragement for North QB LaMorte of West Orange High School who is headed to play his college football at Bucknell University.
And the Gogerty-LaMorte coach and player combo certainly paid big dividends for the North in Sunday’s Simms Classic as the Mountaineers’ senior signal caller tossed a pair of touchdown passes to give the North a temporary lead, 18-13, with 6:18 remaining in the fourth quarter.
He had connected with Union City’s Mark Boyd on a 17-yard toss to pull the North to within 13-12 before a 63-yard bomb to Antoine Blount of Elizabeth provided the lead for four-and-a-half minutes prior to the winning TD run by Rumson-Fair Haven’s O’Toole.
Coaches such as Gogerty, who is Cedar Grove’s head coach and was selected as the 2024 Sideline Chatter Essex County Coach of the Year, it has become very enjoyable to end the school year to return as a member of the North staff in the Simms Classic.
“It is a very exciting opportunity to be coaching in the Simms North-South Classic,” said Gogerty whose Cedar Grove Panthers finished 13-1 last fall while winning a North 2, Group 1 state sectional playoff championship. “I also had the chance in 2021 to coach in this game and I had a blast!
“And, I was able to network and build relationships with colleagues I still talk to today especially during the season while bouncing ideas off of.
“When the opportunity arose again to be a part of this 2025 staff I was humbled and didn’t hesitate to accept it.”
The talent level in the Simms Classic remains at a high level with several future Football Championship Subdivision (FCS, formerly 1-AA) and Division III players participating.
“There are some really good players for both the North and the South, and that has been a consistent part of this game each year, ” said Dave McCarthy, editor of The McCarthy Report college prospect rating service, who helps in the selection of the teams. “They also involve some tremendous coaches and George DiGrande and his staff do a terrific job along with the people from Kean in making this a smooth-running operation each and every year!”
NFL PLAYERS FROM NORTH-SOUTH CLASSIC:
1979 South: Kelly Konstantinos, Highland Regional 1979: South: Jim Jeffcoat, Matawan 1980 South: Irving Fryar, Rancocas Valley 1980 South: Jon Williams, Somerville 1980: South: Robert Turner, Piscataway 1982: North: Troy Stradford, Linden 1983: South: Mike Alexander, Piscataway 1983: South: Dan Zakashefski, Middlesex 1984: North: Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, Passaic 1985: North: Quintus McDonald, Montclair 1985: South Stefan Padfield, Bishop Ahr 1985: South: Horacio Morenta, Pemberton 1985: Tony Siragusa, Brearley 1986: North: Jeff Mills, Montclair 1986: South: Andre Collins, Cinnaminson 1986: South: Ricky Proehl, Hillsborough 1987: South: Vincenzo Inguaggiato, Madison Central 1988: South: Tony Sacca, Delran 1988: South: Mike Devlin, Cherokee 1988: South: Kerry Ferrell, Piscataway 1988: North: Dave Brown, Westfield 1989: South: Alonzo Spellman, Rancocas Valley 1990: South: Keith Elias, Lacey 1990: South: Jay Bellamy, Matawan 1991: South: Bruce Presley, Highland Park 1992: South: Kevin Foley, Cherry Hill East 1993: South: Derek Ward, Kingsway 1993: South: Larry Watkins, Lenape 1994: North: Michael Pringley, Linden 1994: North: Kendall Ogle, Hillside 1995: South: Eric Jones, Hillsborough 1995: North: Roger Chanoine, Linden 1996: South: Robert Sack, Brick Township 1997: South: James Lewis, Piscataway 1997: South: Kareem McKenzie, Willingboro 1998: South: L.J. Smith, Highland Park 1999: South: William Green, Holy Spirit 1999: South: Dan Klecko, Marlboro 2000: South: John Zuidema, Long Branch NORTH-SOUTH SCOREBOARD Follow Sideline Chatter on Twitter @Chattermeister
Among those enjoying being at Kean's Alumni Field for 47th Phil Simms N.J. North-South All-Star Classic are coaches such as former Columbia head man Gary Mobley (left) and first-year Union Coach Barris Grant. Mobley is former standout at Union before graduating in 1986. Two of the former head coaches on hand were former Cedar Grove head honcho Ed Sadloch and ex-Montville and William Paterson University head man Gerry Gallagher who is now an assistant for son Bryan at Morris Knolls.
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